C E B O . org

Posted 10:51 AM by Mary

Tell Obama: Support Human Rights Sponsored by: Better World Campaign

Sixty years ago, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights--a remarkable document enumerating the essential freedoms every individual deserves. The Universal Declaration was championed by Eleanor Roosevelt, who envisioned a world in which everyone's basic human rights are upheld.Unfortunately, Eleanor Roosevelt's vision is a distant dream for millions. We must do better.

The UN has made great progress in protecting the rights of people all over the world, combating discrimination, monitoring countries' human rights situations, and rapidly responding to human rights crises. But currently, the United States is sitting on the sidelines of the UN's Human Rights Council.

Tell President Obama that you support his efforts to commit to working with the UN to protect and promote human rights worldwide. A strong, proactive agenda from Obama can bring freedom and dignity to millions of people, and help improve America's image.

Labels: UDHR

Posted 10:09 PM by Mary

Gaza Update: 300 Human Rights Groups Request War Crimes Prosecution of Israel
By: Siun Tuesday January 20, 2009 4:46 pm

As outside observers enter Gaza, we’re learning more about what has happened during the Israeli attack. What they are seeing is devastating - and is leading to accusations of Israeli war crimes.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called for investigations and prosecutions during his tour of Gaza:

Standing in front of the UN compound during a visit to the shattered Palestinian territory, a visibly angry Mr Ban said that he was "heartbroken" by the devastation he witnessed and appalled by the Israeli attack on the UN facility.

"It is an outrageous and totally unacceptable attack on the United Nations," Mr Ban said, the warehouse still smouldering behind him.

"There must be a full investigation, a full explanation to make sure it never happens again. There should be accountability through a proper judiciary system.

"I have protested many times. I am today protesting again in the strongest terms. I have asked [for a] full investigation and [to] make those responsible people accountable.''

AFP reports that "300 human rights groups" are "planning to submit a 37 page dossier" to the International Criminal Court on Wednesday.

International lawyers and jurists met Saturday in Geneva to finalise details of the dossier, which documents several violations against international human rights committed by the Israeli army during the Gaza offensive...

Even though Israel is not a state member, the group of jurists said the ICC could still prosecute individuals in the country.

... Venezuela and Bolivia are also interested in going to the ICC. As state members of the ICC, these countries can go one step further ... by putting forward the charge against the Israeli authorities... Bolivia is preparing a request seeking to have Israel prosecuted by the ICC, two ministers said Friday in Geneva. The South American state says it wants to muster support among regional peers for a bid to have "the Israeli political and military leaders responsible for the offensive on the Gaza Strip" brought before justice, said Sacha Llorenti, whose portfolio covers civil society.

Amnesty International reported Monday on the findings of a four-person fact-finding team who have just been allowed to Gaza. The team included a weapons expert who said:

"Yesterday, we saw streets and alleyways littered with evidence of the use of white phosphorus, including still burning wedges and the remnants of the shells and canisters fired by the Israeli army…White phosphorus is a weapon intended to provide a smokescreen for troop movements on the battlefield. It is highly incendiary, air burst and its spread effect is such that it that should never be used on civilian areas".

And their conclusion is that the Israeli use in Gaza “is a war crime:”

"Such extensive use of this weapon in Gaza's densely populated residential neighbourhoods is inherently indiscriminate. Its repeated use in this manner, despite evidence of its indiscriminate effects and its toll on civilians, is a war crime," said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty's researcher on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Among the places worst affected by the use of white phosphorus was the UNRWA compound in Gaza City, where Israeli forces fired three white phosphorus shells on 15 January. The white phosphorus landed next to some fuel trucks and caused a large fire which destroyed tons of humanitarian aid. Prior to this strike the compound had already been hit an hour earlier and the Israeli authorities had been informed by UNRWA officials and had given assurance that no further strikes would be launched on the compound. In another incident on the same day a white phosphorus shell landed in the al-Quds hospital in Gaza City also causing a fire which forced hospital staff to evacuate the patients.

Labels: Amnesty, ICC, Israel, UNWRA, war crime

Posted 12:36 AM by Mary

[It is suggested to reprint this letter from the Times of London wherever possible]

Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is not self-defence – it’s a war crime

ISRAEL has sought to justify its military attacks on Gaza by stating that it amounts to an act of “self-defence” as recognised by Article 51, United Nations Charter. We categorically reject this contention.

The rocket attacks on Israel by Hamas deplorable as they are, do not, in terms of scale and effect amount to an armed attack entitling Israel to rely on self-defence. Under international law self-defence is an act of last resort and is subject to the customary rules of proportionality and necessity.

The killing of almost 800 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and more than 3,000 injuries, accompanied by the destruction of schools, mosques, houses, UN compounds and government buildings, which Israel has a responsibility to protect under the Fourth Geneva Convention, is not commensurate to the deaths caused by Hamas rocket fire.

For 18 months Israel had imposed an unlawful blockade on the coastal strip that brought Gazan society to the brink of collapse. In the three years after Israel’s redeployment from Gaza, 11 Israelis were killed by rocket fire. And yet in 2005-8, according to the UN, the Israeli army killed about 1,250 Palestinians in Gaza, including 222 children. Throughout this time the Gaza Strip remained occupied territory under international law because Israel maintained effective control over it.

Israel’s actions amount to aggression, not self-defence, not least because its assault on Gaza was unnecessary. Israel could have agreed to renew the truce with Hamas. Instead it killed 225 Palestinians on the first day of its attack. As things stand, its invasion and bombardment of Gaza amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s 1.5m inhabitants contrary to international humanitarian and human rights law. In addition, the blockade of humanitarian relief, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and preventing access to basic necessities such as food and fuel, are prima facie war crimes.

We condemn the firing of rockets by Hamas into Israel and suicide bombings which are also contrary to international humanitarian law and are war crimes. Israel has a right to take reasonable and proportionate means to protect its civilian population from such attacks. However, the manner and scale of its operations in Gaza amount to an act of aggression and is contrary to international law, notwithstanding the rocket attacks by Hamas.

Ian Brownlie QC, Blackstone Chambers
Mark Muller QC, Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales
Michael Mansfield QC and Joel Bennathan QC, Tooks Chambers
Sir Geoffrey Bindman, University College, London
Professor Richard Falk, Princeton University
Professor M Cherif Bassiouni, DePaul University, Chicago
Professor Christine Chinkin, LSE
Professor John B Quigley, Ohio State University
Professor Iain Scobbie and Victor Kattan, School of Oriental and African Studies
Professor Vera Gowlland-Debbas, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
Professor Said Mahmoudi, Stockholm University
Professor Max du Plessis, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban
Professor Bill Bowring, Birkbeck College
Professor Joshua Castellino, Middlesex University
Professor Thomas Skouteris and Professor Michael Kagan, American University of Cairo
Professor Javaid Rehman, Brunel University
Daniel Machover, Chairman, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights
Dr Phoebe Okawa, Queen Mary University
John Strawson, University of East London
Dr Nisrine Abiad, British Institute of International and Comparative Law
Dr Michael Kearney, University of York
Dr Shane Darcy, National University of Ireland, Galway
Dr Michelle Burgis, University of St Andrews
Dr Niaz Shah, University of Hull
Liz Davies, Chair, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyer
Prof Michael Lynk, The University of Western Ontario
Steve Kamlish QC and Michael Topolski QC, Tooks Chambers

Labels: Gaza, Israel, war crime

Posted 9:55 AM by Mary

MEETING: Humanists of Metro New York:
Humanist Roundtable Discussions

You're invited to attend an initial get-together next Tuesday, Dec. 9th from
6pm to 9pm at the Society for Ethical Culture at 64th Street and Central Park West!

Proposed Topic: Formulating a Humanist priority list for action during
the new Barack Obama Presidency? That should make for a rousing discussion!

For information call: 914-588-5284

Labels: HSMNY

Posted 9:52 AM by Mary

Petition sponsored by Care2.com to urge Obama to support Human Rights:

u can view this petition at: hwww.thepetitionsite.com/t3

Labels: Human rights

Posted 10:46 AM by Mary

COUNTER TERROR WITH JUSTICE: A HUMAN RIGHTS CHALLENGE

Amnesty International urges U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to make human rights central to his new administration. The organization is calling for certain concrete steps in his first 100 days in office that would demonstrate a genuine commitment to bringing the United States into line with its international obligations.

The new president will have the authority to rectify some of the unlawful policies and practices adopted during his predecessor’s term in office in the name of counter-terrorism and national security.

In the first 100 days, Amnesty International is calling on the new administration to:

* announce a plan and date to close Guantanamo;

* issue an executive order to ban torture and other ill-treatment, as defined under international law;

* ensure that an independent commission to investigate abuses committed by the U.S. government in its "war on terror" is set up.

These demands are part of a "checklist" of actions Amnesty International is asking the new U.S. President to take during the first 100 days in office.

PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS AT HOME AND ABROAD

Amnesty International has numerous human rights concerns in relation to the United States. The organization is seeking a meeting with President-elect Obama to discuss how the United States will take forward policies that will advance internationally recognized human rights both at home and abroad.

Call on President-elect Barack Obama to demonstrate a commitment to human rights in his first 100 days in office.
PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA: SHOW REAL LEADERSHIP IN HUMAN RIGHTS

Labels: obama, torture

Posted 12:35 PM by Mary

Secretive Iraq agreement includes no date for U.S. withdrawal

The Bush Administration and the Iraqi government have been negotiating a "security agreement." Both Congress and the Iraqi parliament have been excluded from the negotiations, and critics in both countries fear that the Bush Administration and the Iraqi government are trying to "lock in" a long term relationship between the United States and Iraq that does not reflect the interests or the views of the majority in either country.

This is a critical time for Congress to hear from Americans about this issue. Can you ask your Representative to insist that any such agreement must be approved by Congress? See JustforeignPolicy.com.

The Bush Administration is trying to sneak through this agreement that could constrain the choices of the next Administration concerning the future of US forces in Iraq. Press reports suggest that the negotiations have reached an advanced stage.

While the Iraqi government has publicly acknowledged that the agreement must be approved by the Iraqi parliament, the Bush Administration has not acknowledged that the agreement must be approved by Congress.

The American Friends Service Committee has published a translation of a draft of the agreement that appeared in the Iraqi press. Contrary to the impression given by many press reports on the negotiations, the draft agreement apparently specifies no date for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, even as a goal.

Rep. DeLauro has introduced legislation that would require the Bush Administration to consult with Congress on any long-term security, economic, or political agreement with the Government of Iraq. It would prohibit the use of funds for the implementation of any long-term security, economic, or political agreement with the Government of Iraq unless the agreement is in the form of a treaty with respect to which the Senate has given its advice and consent to ratification under Article II of the Constitution. This legislation currently has 58 sponsors in the House [3].
Please ask your Representative to support this legislation?

Labels: AFSC, congress, Iraq, withdrawal

Posted 10:02 AM by Mary

Torture resolution at the APA

For the second year in a row, the issue of torture and illegal detention will be a hot one at the APA's annual convention, which begins Thursday in Boston. In addition to rejecting the APA's position on torture and interrogations, the protesters will be backing the candidacy of Dr. Steven Reisner for the presidency of the organization as well as the "Aye" vote on a referendum that would reinforce the first principle of the APA ethics code: "Psychologists strive to benefit those with whom they work and take care to do no harm."

Reisner, a psychoanalyst, is a senior faculty member and supervisor at the International Trauma Studies Program, an adjunct professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University, and a consultant to the United Nations on stress and trauma. He is a leader of Psychologists for an Ethical Psychology, and, with Soldz and others, a leading critic of the APA's position. In April, the mail-in nominating procedure for the APA presidency gave Reisner the most votes (more than 30%) of any of the five candidates who will compete with each other for the post in October,

"Be it resolved that psychologists may not work in settings where persons are held outside of, or in violation of, either International Law (e.g., the UN Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions) or the US Constitution (where appropriate), unless they are working directly for the persons being detained or for an independent third party working to protect human rights."

Labels: torture

Posted 10:02 AM by Mary

Torture resolution at the APA

For the second year in a row, the issue of torture and illegal detention will be a hot one at the APA's annual convention, which begins Thursday in Boston. In addition to rejecting the APA's position on torture and interrogations, the protesters will be backing the candidacy of Dr. Steven Reisner for the presidency of the organization as well as the "Aye" vote on a referendum that would reinforce the first principle of the APA ethics code: "Psychologists strive to benefit those with whom they work and take care to do no harm."

Reisner, a psychoanalyst, is a senior faculty member and supervisor at the International Trauma Studies Program, an adjunct professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University, and a consultant to the United Nations on stress and trauma. He is a leader of Psychologists for an Ethical Psychology, and, with Soldz and others, a leading critic of the APA's position. In April, the mail-in nominating procedure for the APA presidency gave Reisner the most votes (more than 30%) of any of the five candidates who will compete with each other for the post in October,

"Be it resolved that psychologists may not work in settings where persons are held outside of, or in violation of, either International Law (e.g., the UN Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions) or the US Constitution (where appropriate), unless they are working directly for the persons being detained or for an independent third party working to protect human rights."

Labels: torture

Posted 1:10 PM by Mary

Abolitionists take on slavery – online Changemakers.net hosts global competition for innovative solutions to human trafficking.
By Jane Lampman | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

How do you eliminate slavery and human trafficking? Modern abolitionists across the globe are tackling that question head on – and collaborating via the Internet on their efforts.

Through Changemakers.net, many have joined in a global competition to identify the most innovative antislavery programs and extend their impact.

More than 230 groups from 50 countries entered this summer's competition, titled "Ending Global Slavery: Everyday Heroes Leading the Way." Judges knowledgeable about slavery selected 15 finalists, and last week the online community voted for three winners.

"We're incredibly proud of our online community who stepped forward to collaborate, discuss, and draw out the most effective ideas in this issue regarding human dignity," said Charlie Brown, Changemaker's executivedirector, on announcing the winners Aug. 6.

An initiative of Ashoka, a global association of social entrepreneurs, Changemakers has run 20 competitions online to promote innovative solutions in areas such as water and sanitation, geotourism, ending corruption, and sports for a better world. All applications in a competition go up on the Web, where others can comment, learn from, and help refine the ideas and programs.

The three winning programs pioneer differing approaches to fighting the complex problem:

• Carpets for Communities, a Cambodian organization, carries out grass-roots interventions into child trafficking and labor, providing mothers with an income (rugmaking at home) so that their children can go to school instead. Children are often sold or forced into working so their families can survive.

• The Code.org provides the international tourism industry with a tool to prevent and combat child sex tourism. According to UNICEF, about 2 million children fall victim to sex tourism, pornography, and trafficking every year. Some 600 companies so far have signed onto a code of conduct that addresses the tourism supply chain, from corporate ethical policies and training personnel to educating travelers, requiring standards of suppliers, and working with local officials in countries of destination.

Labels: slavery

Posted 10:02 AM by Mary

Rights Group Wants US Officials Probed for Ordering Torture
by: Agence France-Presse

Washington - A Nobel-prize-winning rights group said US officials committed war crimes by ordering what the group says was torture of detainees, and called for them to be probed and prosecuted.

"There must be a complete and independent investigation of what happened in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and other places where terrorist suspects were detained," Allen Keller of Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) told a briefing in the US House of Representatives Thursday.

"We urge that a full investigation in the form of an independent non-partisan commission that has access to all documents and has subpoena power to obtain relevant documents as well as the testimony of officials," PHR president Leonard Rubenstein said.

"There must be accountability ... accountability must include prosecuting individuals who have committed war crimes, whatever their place in the chain of command," he added.

The doctors described graphically how detainees held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and in Iraq and Afghanistan had been subjected to "torture and abuse while in US custody that was sadly second to none."

The ordeals suffered by the 11 detainees, all of whom have been released without charge, were outlined in a report compiled by PHR and released three weeks ago.

Keller told how one former Guantanamo prisoner who was interviewed for the report was beaten, stripped naked, subjected to intimidation by dogs, hooded, thrown against a wall and sustained electric shocks from a generator.

He also endured sexual humiliation, including an incident where "a naked woman entered the interrogation room and smeared him with what he believed to be menstrual blood."

Another prisoner was "forced to lie face-down in urine and sodomized with a broomstick," Keller said.

"As a physician and scientist who has spent much of his professional career evaluating and caring for victims of torture and abuse, I want to clearly state that torture and inhuman interrogation techniques are cruel, ineffective and can have devastating health consequences," Keller said.

"I am very concerned that when we as a country condone such methods, we are putting our soldiers and other US citizens living around the world at risk," he added.

"We have violated the golden rule that we preached for years: don't torture. So what do we do? We change the name. We called it 'enhanced interrogation techniques'," Keller said.

PHR president Rubenstein echoed the call for a probe.

"Accountability must include prosecuting individuals who have committed war crimes, whatever their place in the chain of command," said Rubenstein.

In the preface to the PHR report entitled "Broken Laws, Broken Lives: Medical evidence of torture by US personnel and its impact," retired US Army general Antonio Teguba said bluntly that there was "no longer any doubt that the current administration has committed war crimes."

"The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account," said Teguba, who led the official investigation into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq.

Abu Ghraib prison became infamous after the publication in 2004 of photographs showing Iraqi detainees being humiliated and abused by their US guards. The scandal led to the sentencing of 11 US soldiers to up to 10 years in prison.

Physicians for Human Rights shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 as one of the original steering committee members of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

Labels: Human rights, PSR, torture bush

Posted 4:32 PM by Mary

Letter to Obama, McCain, Nader: (click on link to sign)

CLUSTER BOMB MORATORIUM

Last month, 111 nations agreed on the necessity of a global treaty banning the production, stockpiling, and use of cluster munitions. Together, they drafted the Convention on Cluster Munitions to achieve that goal.

Sadly, President Bush chose not to participate, placing the United States on the wrong side of a global humanitarian movement. But you can change that.

America should rejoin the world community in its struggle for a more peaceful future. Your signature on this treaty would take an important step toward that goal.

If elected, will you sign this important international ban on cluster munitions?

Labels: cluster bombs

Posted 11:49 AM by Mary

From AVAAZ:

An emergency summit of world leaders is addressing the skyrocketing food crisis. The head of the United Nations will receive our call to action at the summit this Wednesday.

The world food crisis is skyrocketing – steadily rising prices are squeezing billions and triggering food riots from Bangladesh to South Africa. Aid agencies say 100 million people are facing starvation.

In response, the United Nations is convening an emergency summit of world leaders in Rome this week. There is a real danger that rich country leaders will push half measures and band-aid solutions – we need a huge global outcry to demand rapid, massive, coordinated action.

The head of the UN, Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, will receive our petition at the summit at 9:30AM on Wednesday morning. This is a huge opportunity for our voice to reach our leaders directly, but we need half a million voices in the next 60 hours. Click below to sign the petition if you haven't yet, and forward this email to everyone you know:

Food Crisis Petition

Already over 200,000 Avaaz members have joined our call for emergency food aid and deeper solutions such as investing in food production in poor countries and fixing harmful rich country policies such as burning food as biofuels. Our campaign was launched in response to a personal video appeal to our community from the foreign minister of Sierra Leone

Labels: FAO, Food prices, food security

Posted 3:00 PM by Mary

Conference: New Dilemmas in Medicine, co-hosted by the IHEU-Appignani Bioethics Center & Bioethics International
Where: 777 United Nations Plaza, 2nd Fl., New York, NY
When: May 23, 2008 9. 30 am-7. 00 pm

To Have the Best Child Possible: The Coming Age of “Procreative Beneficence?”

Genetic science has the potential to provide prospective parents with unprecedented control over their unborn child’s characteristics and attributes. In vitro fertilization and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis allow couples to sort out “good” from “bad” embryos prior to the start of pregnancy. Although these technologies are almost exclusively employed to detect genetic and/or chromosomal abnormalities among embryos, their use for selection of other medical and non-medical traits is conceivable. Tomorrow’s couples may have the opportunity to select embryos that will not only be the least susceptible to disease but which also have particular hair colors, skin tones, temperaments, or other personal attributes. Advocates of these eugenic initiatives have argued that future couples will have a moral obligation to pursue these technologies whenever possible to achieve the greatest benefit for their children, a principle known as “procreative beneficence.” Still, secular and non-secular critics alike argue that use of such technologies is immoral and may be potentially devastating to children and the structure of society.

• Arthur Cooper, M.D., Director of Trauma & Pediatric Surgical Services, Columbia University- Harlem Hospital Center
• Jennifer Kimball, Executive Director Culture of Life Foundation
• Eva Kittay, Ph.D. SUNY Stony Brook
• Barbara Katz Rothman, Ph.D. CUNY Baruch College
• Udo Schuklenk, Ph.D. Queen's University, Canada
• Panel Moderator: TBD


Ethics and Pharmaceutical R&D: Who Should Be Responsible for Tomorrow’s Drugs?

The vast majority of prescription medications are developed and sold by private pharmaceutical companies. Under the current market-based system, however, some critics argue that pharmaceutical companies have financial incentives to support R&D that will yield the biggest return but which may not be in the best interests of improving the health of patients worldwide. They claim, for example, that pharmaceutical companies are far more interested in producing Viagra than vaccines, and call for change in paradigm of drug design and provision. Others point to the high costs of R&D and the critical importance of blockbuster drugs to the future development of less profitable vaccines and antibiotics; without the former, they argue, there could be no breakthroughs.

•Angela Ballantyne, Ph.D.,Yale University Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, Visiting Scholar
•Chalmers C. Clark, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Union College
•Paul Howard, Ph.D., Director of the Manhattan Institute's Center for Medical Progress
•Wilmot James, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Africa Genome Education Institute
•Jason L. Schwartz, Ph.D., Researcher, University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics
•Panel Moderator: Jason Lott, M.D., University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Saying “No” to Patients: Medical Professionals as Conscientious Objectors

Central to the professional and ethical mandate of physicians, pharmacists, and other healthcare personnel is the provision of medical care consistent with the best interests of their patients. However, news of healthcare professionals refusing to provide certain types of care to their patients under the auspices of “conscientious objection” have raised questions about the role of professionals’ personal beliefs in fulfillment of their purported obligations and duties. Examples include doctors refusing to terminate pregnancies, pharmacists refusing to dispense emergency contraception, certain Catholic hospitals receiving public funds refusing to issue morning-after birth control to rape victims, and others.

•Robert Baker, Ph.D. Director & Professor of Bioethics, The Union Graduate College-Mount Sinai School of Medicine
•Thomas Berg, L.C., Ph.D., Executive Director, Westchester Institute for Ethics & the Human Person
•Laura Katzive, Deputy Director, International Legal Program, Center for Reproductive Rights
•Mark Mercurio, M.D., M.A., Yale University School of Medicine, Director of the Yale Pediatric Ethics Program, and Co-Chair of the Hospital Ethics Committee
•Rosamond Rhodes, Ph.D., Professor & Director Medical Education, Bioethics Education, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
•Girija Nandan Singh , Ph.D., University Professor & Head of Geography at R. D. & D. J. College Munger, Bihar, India

Labels: bioethics, ethics

Posted 1:31 PM by Mary

The New York Times has revealed that over 75 retired US military officers who have been frequent media commentators are being used as "message force multipliers" by the Pentagon to disseminate Administration talking points on the war in Iraq and the "war on terror" in an propaganda effort to manipulate US public opinion.1,2

Many have serious conflicts of interest, since they work on behalf of defense companies seeking contracts from the Pentagon running into the billions of dollars. Yet, US television networks have portrayed them as independent commentators and failed even to reveal these conflicts of interest.

While the article focuses on TV stations, newspapers including the New York Times have also cited or published op-eds from these retired officers.3 Please join us in asking the New York Times, as a follow-up to their excellent report, to do a public review of their past use of these retired officers and to fully disclose conflicts of interest when citing or publishing retired officers as military analysts in the future.

Part of suggested letter to the NYT:

In light of these findings, I urge you at the New York Times to follow-up with a public accounting, similar to your “Editor’s Note” on the coverage of Administration claims in the run-up to the Iraq war, of your own citation and publication of these retired officers and whether full disclosure of their potential conflicts of interest was made to readers. Furthermore, I urge you to adopt a strong policy requiring investigation and disclosure of such potential conflicts of interest in the future, which could help set a standard for other newspapers and media outlets.

Labels: Iraq, New York Times, Pentagon

Posted 10:02 PM by Mary

from Democracy in Action and Jewish Voices for Peace (link below)

In the Interest of Peace, Support Talks with Hamas

Former President Jimmy Carter, predictably, is being denounced for meeting with the exiled leader of Hamas in Syria.

Carter's critics are wrong. Talking to Hamas, which won the January 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, is a necessary part of creating peace. As Carter himself said, "There's no doubt in anyone's mind that, if Israel is ever going to find peace with justice concerning the relationship with their next-door neighbors, the Palestinians, that Hamas will have to be included in the process."

Please sign our petition - co-sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace - to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain asking them to support former President Carter and support talks with Hamas.

64 percent of Israelis have said they want their government to talk with Hamas about a cease-fire. After Hamas won the January 2006 elections, it was willing to declare a ceasefire and allow President Abbas to negotiate with Israel on behalf of all Palestinians. Indeed, the U.S. has encouraged Egypt to talk to Hamas about negotiating a cease-fire. How can it be a scandal for Jimmy Carter to talk to Hamas, but not for Egypt to talk to Hamas at U.S. direction?

If the United States truly wants a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians - as opposed to just pretending that it wants one - it must deal with Hamas.

Sign here

Labels: carter, hamas, jewish, petition

Posted 8:42 AM by Mary

The Torture President
Dan Froomkin, WashingtonPost

Anthony Lewis writes in the New York Review of Books (subscription required): "In these last weeks of turbulent events, the single most significant has not been the financial crisis, not the fall of a governor, not the passing of the fifth year of the war without end in Iraq. It has been an American president's formal blessing of the use of torture.

"That was what President Bush did in early March when he vetoed legislation prohibiting the use of brutal methods of interrogation by American intelligence agents. His action was quickly overtaken by other news. But in its redefinition of American values--of the American character--it had profound implications.

"I grew up believing that Americans did not torture prisoners, as Hitler's and Stalin's agents did. There were rogue episodes of American brutality, but to make torture a national policy? Unthinkable.

"No one should be in any doubt that torture was what President Bush had in mind. No one should be fooled by Orwellian talk of 'enhanced interrogation techniques.' . . .

"George W. Bush can seek his God's mercy for trying to legitimize torture by Americans. But here on earth he cannot escape judgment. For me he will always be the Torture President."

Labels: torture bush

Posted 10:52 AM by Mary

TELL CARGILL AND ADM TO STOP SUPPORTING CHILD LABOR ABROAD
From the International Labor Rights Forum
The House Committee on Agriculture is currently debating a provision in the Farm Bill which would provide U.S. Corporations with a voluntary process to demonstrate to consumers that their products are harvested without forced labor or the worst forms of child labor. Huge agricultural corporations like Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland are aggressively lobbying to cut this provision from the Farm Bill. This provision is a major step forward in ending forced and child labor around the world and we cannot let business lobbyists stop it! Take action to stop agriculture imports produced with child labor here:

Labels: child labor, sweatshops

Posted 3:21 PM by Mary

4 April 2008 - CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is seriously concerned about recent reports of the detention of foreign journalists in Zimbabwe, as well as threats to civil society.

"These arrests are a disturbing indication that the Zimbabwean government is trying to silence any critical voices. We appeal to the authorities to ensure the space for public comment is re-opened and the rights of both media and civil society are protected. We also urge President Mbeki, on behalf of Southern Africa, to show leadership in calling for the protection of these rights, said Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of CIVICUS.

Yesterday evening a number of raids were carried out at various locations in Harare during which five foreign journalists were arrested. Three of the journalists have since been released. Two remain detained at the Harare Central Police Station and have been charged with practising journalism without licenses.

During the run-up to the elections, a number of civil society activists reported harassment and intimidation. Members of civil society groups including Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe (RoHRZ) were reportedly beaten and arrested during peaceful rallies since January 2008.

In an earlier appeal to the Southern African Development Community's (SADC) Electoral Observer Team, CIVICUS urged observers to consider the ongoing restrictions on civil society activity in evaluating whether the Zimbabwean elections could be described as free and fair. SADC's assessments of Zimbabwe's past three elections have largely ignored human rights abuses and electoral irregularities. A preliminary report from SADC indicates this election's assessment may not defer from its previously uncritical stance.

This week, in an open letter to President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, CIVICUS also called for his leadership in ensuring the elections are fully transparent and representative of the will of the Zimbabwean people.

"As tension builds and a disaster looms in Zimbabwe, it is now time for Africa, particularly the leaders of Southern African, to take action to prevent even further tragedy for the people of Zimbabwe," emphasised Naidoo.

This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm

For more information on CIVICUS, or contact Julie Middleton at +27 82 403 6040.

Posted 1:11 PM by Mary

In celebration of International Women's Day, UNIFEM and Avon held the Global Summit for a Better Tomorrow. The Summit counted with the participation of:

* Ms. Joanne Sandler, UNIFEM Executive Director a.i.
* Ms. Andrea Jung, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Avon Products, Inc.
* Ms. Reese Witherspoon, Avon Global Ambassador/award-winning actress
* Ms. Suze Orman, personal finance expert/renowned television host and author
* and other leading global advocates for women's empowerment

At the Summit, UNIFEM and Avon announced the launch of their new public/private Partnership for Women's Rights and Empowerment and the creation of the Avon Empowerment Fund. Avon Global Ambassador Reese Witherspoon unveiled Avon's first global fundraising product, the Women's Empowerment Bracelet, as well as the largest corporate grant ever made to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women. (For more details, see the news release.)

Labels: unifem

Posted 4:18 PM by Mary

As it stands today, the Senate is considering a $4 billion cut from the president's 2009 international affairs budget. What's most shocking is that this would represent a cut of $1 billion from this year's funding, a huge loss at a time when we are poised to do so much to combat extreme poverty and global disease. Slashing this funding would be simply devastating to people like those surviving HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis thanks in part to the help America provides.

Thankfully, we're not the only ones who've noticed the problem, and Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) have introduced an amendment to restore $2.6 billion to the international affairs budget, to match the House of Representatives funding level.

Here is where we come in. We only have one week to get the majority of the Senate to support this effort. It's up to us to take action and make sure that our senators pass a budget that reflects our values. So we're launching a petition asking the Senate to support this amendment:

You can add your name here:

Petition text:
In the great American tradition of helping others help themselves, we, the undersigned, ask that the U.S. Senate pass the Durbin-Smith amendment to restore $2.6 billion to the international affairs budget.

Increasing the size of the international affairs budget is vital to increasing the amount the U.S. gives to poverty-focused development assistance. The international affairs budget funds all the proven solutions that we call for time and again: lifesaving AIDS medications, basic education, access to clean water, and many more programs helping people work their way out of poverty.

The fight over the international affairs budget is just the first important step to making sure that we keep our promise to help the world's poorest people. Later in the year, we'll work to make sure that enough of the international affairs budget goes to the programs that are making a real difference in the developing world. But that fight will be much more difficult if we don't get a high level of funding for the poorest among us here and now.

Thank you for your voice,

Josh Peck, ONE.org

Posted 1:27 PM by Mary

Tell President Bush That a Veto Is a Vote for Torture

We finally have a bill that would completely rule out torture as a U.S. interrogation technique. The President can sign it into law in the coming days – or he can veto it, which he has threatened to do.

Tell the President to put an end to state-sanctioned cruelty by signing the bill. A veto is unacceptable!

The letter:
I urge you to sign the Intelligence Authorization Bill (H.R. 2082). Section 327 of this bill provides critical language that would set a single, humane interrogation standard for all detainees in the custody of the U.S. intelligence community. I am counting on you to bring U.S. interrogation policy in line with the laws and values of our country.

For far too long, the CIA and other intelligence agencies have been allowed to continue a detention and interrogation program in which cruel interrogation techniques - including waterboarding, stress positions, extreme temperatures and sleep deprivation - have reportedly been authorized and used.

It is time to legislate an effective and humane approach to interrogation. You now have a chance to hold the intelligence community to the interrogation standards set by the United States Army Field Manual. I hope you will take this extraordinary opportunity to stand up for human rights, the rule of law and American moral standards by signing the Intelligence Authorization Bill.

Posted 9:43 AM by Mary

World lawyers urge Guantanamo closure

22 hours ago

OTTAWA (AFP) — Lawyers' organizations from around the world have sent a letter to US and Canadian leaders urging the closure of the US prison facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the repatriation of a Canadian suspect.

"By calling for the closure of Guantanamo, we do not detract from the horror of acts of terrorism in the US or other countries," said the letter released Monday and signed by 34 bar association leaders.

The lawyers issued a particular appeal for Omar Khadr, a Canadian whose trial is set to open in May, to be released and tried in Canada instead.

Khadr is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a US medic in Afghanistan in 2002. He was 15 years old at the time.

"For five years, Omar Khadr, a 'child' under the terms of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, has languished without trial in Guantanamo," said the letter addressed to US President George W. Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"There is reason to believe he has been subjected to treatment that is at best degrading and abusive and at worst amounts to torture," it said, noting that he is the only citizen of a Western country still held at Guantanamo.

"Few governmental operations by democratic countries have shown such a profound disrespect for the rule of law," the letter said. "Guantanamo Bay has come to signify injustice for some at the hands of the powerful."

The lawyers urged that Khadr be "transferred to the custody of Canadian law enforcement officials, so that he can face due process under Canadian law and the principles of the rule of law."

The lawyers noted however that "transferring Omar Khadr to Canada is not synonymous with impunity."

"We do not deny that some of those detained at Guantanamo may have committed criminal acts. If so, they should be tried by a properly constituted court operating under rules that guarantee a fair trial."

The letter was signed by lawyers' associations in Australia, Britain, France, Finland, South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, Luxembourg, Turkey, Iraq and Romania, among other countries.

Posted 10:45 AM by Mary

Right to a Violence-Free Existence
The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) is currently campaigning to "Say No to Violence against Women!" The effort engages numerous members of civil society, the private sector, and UN partners to draw attention to gender-based violence that continues to pervade our global society. Visitors can demonstrate their support for the initiative by adding their name to the campaign's virtual book, at www.saynotoviolence.org

Posted 10:08 AM by Mary

Iran: Judiciary Must Prevent Imminent Executions by Stoning
Revoke Sentences, End This Cruel and Inhuman Punishment

(Washington, DC, February 6, 2008) - The head of Iran's Judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi Shahrudi, should immediately revoke the sentences of death by stoning imposed on three persons convicted of adultery, Human Rights Watch said today. In separate cases, two sisters from the town of Shahriar in Tehran Province and a man from the town of Sari in the province of Mazandaran, are all at imminent risk of execution.

"The Iranian government is set to execute three of its citizens in a horrendously brutal manner," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The Judiciary must act now to end this inhuman form of punishment once and for all."

In February 2007, authorities arrested sisters Zohreh Kabiri, 27, and Azar Kabiri, 28, on charges of having "illegal relationships" based on accusations made by one of their husbands. According to Iran's Islamic Penal Code, "immoral" relationships such as those between men and women who are not married, may be subject to criminal punishment. One month after their arrest, Branch 128 of the General Court of the city of Karaj convicted and sentenced the sisters to 99 lashes.

Six months after officials handed down and executed the sentence, additional accusations by the husband of one of the sisters resulted in a second trial on more serious charges of adultery. Branch 80 of the Karaj Penal Court of the Tehran Province convicted the sisters on these charges and sentenced them to death by stoning. The Supreme Court has approved the ruling and the sentence may be carried out at any time.

The Islamic Penal Code of Iran allows execution as a punishment for adultery, and allows it to be carried out by stoning for this offense. The practice involves throwing stones at the convicted individual, who is buried up to the waist (if he is a man) or up to the chest (if she is a woman), until the individual dies from impact of the blows.

Jabar Solati, the lawyer for the two sisters, told Human Rights Watch that since the sentence has already been approved by the Supreme Court, only intervention by the country's highest judicial official, Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi Shahrudi, can prevent the stoning from being carried out.

Abdullah Farivar, 49, also faces execution by stoning. In December 2006, authorities in the northern town of Sari arrested Farivar on charges of adultery. A year later, Branch Two of the Penal Court of Sari convicted Farivar and sentenced him to death by stoning. The Supreme Court has approved the sentence. According to statements attributed in the media to Farivar's family, local authorities informed them last week that the sentence would soon be carried out.

Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment in all circumstances because of its cruel, inhumane, and irrevocable nature. Iran is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states in Article 6 that "in countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes." Executions for crimes "beyond intentional crimes with lethal or other extremely grave consequences," are considered to violate the Covenant, and executions for adultery clearly fall into this category. According to Article 7 of the covenant, "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." As a particularly brutal form of execution, death by stoning violates the provisions of this Article.

Posted 10:06 AM by Mary

Saudi Arabia: Halt Woman's Execution for 'Witchcraft'
Fawza Falih's Case Reveals Deep Flaws in Saudi Justice System

(New York, February 14, 2008) - King Abdullah should halt the execution of Fawza Falih and void her conviction for "witchcraft," Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the Saudi king.

The religious police who arrested and interrogated Fawza Falih and the judges who tried her in the northern town of Quraiyat never gave her the opportunity to prove her innocence against absurd charges that have no basis in law.

"The fact that Saudi judges still conduct trials for unprovable crimes like 'witchcraft' underscores their inability to carry out objective criminal investigations," said Joe Stork, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Fawza Falih's case is an example of how the authorities failed to comply even with existing safeguards in the Saudi justice system."

The judges relied on Fawza Falih's coerced confession and on the statements of witnesses who said she had "bewitched" them to convict her in April 2006. She retracted her confession in court, claiming it was extracted under duress, and that as an illiterate woman she did not understand the document she was forced to fingerprint. She also stated in her appeal that her interrogators beat her during her 35 days in detention at the hands of the religious police. At one point, she had to be hospitalized as a result of the beatings.

The judges never investigated whether her confession was voluntary or reliable or investigated her allegations of torture. They never even made an inquiry as to whether she could have been responsible for allegedly supernatural occurrences, such as the sudden impotence of a man she is said to have "bewitched." They also broke Saudi law in multiple instances, ignoring legal rules on proper procedures in a trial.

The judges did not sit as a panel of three, as required for cases involving the death penalty. They excluded Fawza Falih from most trial sessions and banned a relative who was acting as her legal representative from attending any session. Earlier, her interrogators blocked her access to a lawyer and the judges, and denied her the right to professional legal representation, thus depriving her of the opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses against her. She claims that some of the witnesses were unknown to her and that others had made statements against her only as a result of beatings.

Saudi Arabia does not have a written penal code, and "witchcraft" is not a defined crime. The Law of Criminal Procedure of 2002 grants defendants the right to be tried in person, to have a lawyer present during interrogation and trial, and to cross-examine any prosecution witnesses. The law obliges law enforcement officers to treat detainees humanely.

An appeals court ruled in September 2006 that Fawza Falih could not be sentenced to death for "witchcraft" as a crime against God because she had retracted her confession. The lower court judges then sentenced her to death on a "discretionary" basis, for the benefit of "public interest" and to "protect the creed, souls and property of this country."

"The judges' behavior in Fawza Falih's trial shows they were interested in anything but a quest for the truth," Stork said. "They completely disregarded legal guarantees that would have demonstrated how ill-founded this whole case was."

On November 2, Saudi Arabia executed Mustafa Ibrahim for sorcery in Riyadh. Ibrahim, an Egyptian working as a pharmacist in the northern town of `Ar'ar, was found guilty of having tried "through sorcery" to separate a married couple, according to a Ministry of Interior statement.

To read the letter from Human Rights Watch to King Abdullah, please visit:
hrw-news-women.c.topica.com/

Posted 3:18 PM by Mary

Rights group demands UN investigation into Israel use of cluster bombs in Lebanon

The Associated Press
Sunday, February 17, 2008

WELLINGTON, New Zealand: A leading human rights group called Sunday for a U.N. investigation into Israel's use of cluster bombs during its 2006 campaign against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Israel said the majority of the weapons were used in areas that were "not built up." It that said built-up areas were targeted only if they contained sites for launching rockets or missiles, and that residents were always warned.

New York-based Human Rights Watch called for an independent inquiry to determine whether individual Israeli commanders "bear responsibility for war crimes."

The group claimed in a report that Israel violated international humanitarian law with hundreds of "indiscriminate and disproportionate cluster munitions attacks on Lebanon."

It released the report ahead of the opening Monday of a 120-nation conference in New Zealand's capital, Wellington, on a proposed convention to ban cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians.

The United States, Russia, China and Israel ? all important producers and stockpilers of cluster bombs ? oppose a ban and have blocked efforts to negotiate one at the United Nations.

At a news conference Sunday, Human Rights Watch said Israel had rained as many as 4.6 million submunitions, or cluster bomblets, across southern Lebanon.

The report's lead author, Bonnie Docherty, said the United Nations must investigate whether Israel deliberately targeted civilians with the munitions.

"Ninety percent of the (bombing) strikes occurred in the last three days (of the war when) Israel knew a cease-fire was imminent," she told reporters.

Steve Goose, director of the Arms division at Human Rights Watch, said unexploded cluster bomblets "have killed and maimed almost 200 people since the war ended."

"The Lebanon story is just the latest example of something we've have seen over and over again: Whenever cluster munitions are used, large numbers of civilians get killed and injured," Goose said.

Israel said Sunday it had used cluster munitions in southern Lebanon in direct response to Hezbollah launching more than 4,000 rockets and missiles against Israeli civilians ? "as well as cluster munitions."

Posted 11:31 AM by Mary

Yesterday, the leading candidates for the next President of the United States became clear. They are Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain, and the winner will decide whether the nightmare of the Bush foreign policy is reversed or continued for another 4 years.

US citizens will choose their president, but global public opinion matters to them--they know that US respect in the world has plummeted under Bush, and they want a President who can deliver change. In the next few days, our uniquely global community has a real chance to influence the finalist candidates as they develop their campaign strategy. Click below to read and endorse our letter to the candidates. We'll publish it in US newspapers and deliver it personally to the Clinton, Obama and McCain campaigns-- we need at least 100,000 people to sign it this week – so please sign and forward this email to friends right away:

The message of the letter is simple: we are all in this together. The world is ready to partner with the US, but we need to see a real change of course from the Bush years. The letter is based on a poll of the Avaaz community, which found that our top 3 requests for change in US policy are:

Help the world stop global warming
Respect universal human rights
Use diplomacy to prevent war and resolve conflict
There is a real chance that the candidates could adopt this simple agenda for change, but every day brings more risk that they will commit to another direction. Sign below and forward this email to all your friends and family:


http://www.avaaz.org

American power is declining in the world, but it still has enormous ability to do good or do harm. It will take decades to undo the global harm done by George Bush's disastrous Presidency. Let's help make sure America's next leader takes a different path.

Posted 11:58 AM by Mary

The theme for International Women's Day (8 March) is "Investing in Women
and Girls", in line with the theme of this year's session of the Commission
on the Status of Women. Coinciding with the second week of the CSW, Women’s
Day will be observed at UN Headquarters on 6 March in Conference Room 2. A
high-profile event with women leaders from the private sector, government,
academia and politics is being planned. The Secretary-General is expected
to speak, along with one or two high-level government speakers, followed by
a panel discussion. A media advisory with details of panelists will be
distributed closer to the date.

The 52nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) (
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/52sess.html ) will be held in New York
from 25 February to 7 March, in Conference Room 2. The theme of the
session is “Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women”.
The emerging theme will be "Gender perspectives on climate change" and that
the Commission will also review the implementation of the recommendations
it adopted in 2004 on women's participation in conflict resolution,
prevention and peacebuilding.

The work of the Commission on the main theme will be guided by two reports
of the Secretary-General: the first report will focus on key issues in
financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women and policy
recommendations, while the second will provide an overview of efforts to
mainstream financing for gender equality at the national level. This 52nd
session, as you can see, is an opportunity to focus on the role of
policy-makers at the national level to help achieve equality between men
and women. The SG's reports are available at:
http://www.un.org/ Some
Member States are expected to be represented at the Commission's annual
session by Heads of State and Ministers; representatives of the UN system
and thousands of NGOs from around the world will also be present. For more
information on NGO participation in CSW52, please visit:
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/52sess.htm#ngo

Posted 3:28 PM by Mary

http://www.labourstart.org/
In the last few weeks we've asked for your backing for online campaigns in support of a jailed activist in Bangladesh, striking workers in Russia, and baristas in a Tel Aviv cafe. You responded magnificently, and today I want to report on three bits of good news.

Mehedi Hasan, the workers rights activist in Bangladesh, was released from detention on Sunday afternoon. Thanks to the 4,000 of you who sent messages and spread the word. Bangladesh remains a concern for all of us, and you can continue to follow these issues on the website of Labour Behind the Label and on LabourStart's Bangladesh news page.

And as we reported earlier, your generous donations to the striking Ford workers in Russia have produced some concrete results -- today a majority of workers at the plant voted to accept the agreement on a pay increase and additional benefits which was reached following the historic 20-day strike, the longest-ever in recent Russian history.

The lowest paid workers are getting a 21 percent increase, and on average the factory workers will earn US $1,030 per month. According to reports we're getting from Russia, "the conflict is over with a great victory of workers, whose courage and international solidarity made the company engage in serious negotiations, leading to the setting up of new pay standards for the whole booming Russian auto industry."

We recently asked for your support for the IUF's global online campaign backing striking workers at the Coffee Bean cafe in Israel. According to reports in the media today, the trade union federation (Histadrut) and management have agreed to end the two-week strike and begin negotiations.

Three campaigns - three victories. This has been a good week. Thank you!